Rise of the Runelords

Festival and Fire

The Swallowtail Festival
Players arrive in Sandpoint to attend the Swallowtail festival and the dedication of the newly reconstructed Sandpoint Cathedral. Opening ceremonies are held in a courtyard just outside the cathedral and attendance is respectable. Mayor Kendra Deverin, Sheriff Belor Hemlock and local showman Cyrdak Drokkus give short, well received speeches. One noticeable absence is that of prominent businessman Lonjiku Kajitsu.
At noon, Father Abstalar Zantus, high priest of the new temple, and a few of his acolytes wheel a small covered wagon into the square. After a short parable of how Desna first fell to earth and was nursed back to health by a blind child whom she transformed into an eternal swallowtail butterfly as her reward, they pull aside the wagons covering and release a furious storm of beautiful butterflies. The festival has officially begun.
Games, food, theatrics and contests are available to all.
Lunch is provided free of charge by the local Tavern owners and Innkeepers. Especially popular is the curry-spiced salmon and early winterdrop mead showcased by Ameiko Kajitsu of the Rusty Dragon Inn.
Finally, as dusk approaches, Father Zantus takes the podium and begins to recite the Prayer of First Dreaming when the carnage begins.

Goblins in the Streets
The first signs of trouble come when a mongrel dog whimpers in pain as it is sliced open by one of an invading band of goblins. It’s body tossed from beneath the covered wagon.
Wave after wave of goblin invaders take to the streets. Goblin Warchanters spur their brethren on as torch welding pyromaniacs set fire to any flammable structure they can reach. The player characters are pulled into the action when they themselves are attacked by the goblin marauders. Grazomondi, earns the gratitude of Shayliss Vinder when he rescues her from a goblin attack. She shows her appreciation by pulling him into the Cathedral for a special Thank You. Marlovius begins an awkward obsession when he protects a visiting nobleman, Aldern Foxglove from one of the goblin commandos and his goblindog mount.
Obviously poorly planned, the assault is over quickly. The townsfolk suffer few casualties and in the days following, it is easy for the people of Sandpoint to laugh about the “invasion”
Though a handful of goblins are captured, they are unable to give any helpful information about the driving force behind the assault, except that it was planned by “one of you longshanks”